Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Things are getting interesting in the race to replace Pete Grannis in the 65th Assembly District (Upper East Side).

Democrat Micah Kellner has been his party's choice for a while now, even before Grannis had officially resigned to move on to his new role as Commissioner of the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. High-level NYC Dems like NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer endorsed him as far back as early February.

Kellner has run largely on a reform platform, advocating for many of the changes that Spitzer's campaign promoted. He is also openly bisexual, which means that if he's elected he'll be the fourth openly LGBT Assemblymember and the chamber's first-ever bisexual member. In an interview with Gay City News in early March, Kellner said that we would co-sponsor the (at the time Dick Gottfried's) marriage bill.

Kellner's Republican opponent, Greg Camp, also looks to have some good progressive/pro-LGBT credentials. For one, he put out a public statement on the day that unions announced their support for the marriage bill, saying:

"Today's announcement of union support for a gay marriage bill in Albany is welcome news for everyone who believes in equal rights for all Americans. Should I be elected to the New York State Assembly on June 5th, I will proudly co-sponsor this legislation."

Certainly not your run-of-the-mill NYS Legislature Republican.

The Pride Agenda will likely announce its endorsement either late this week or early next week. But it looks like either way the race plays out, marriage equality has one more supporter.